Friday, October 29, 2010

Many happy hello's to you all and happy Friday!! Anyone have some super fun plans this weekend for Halloween? We're just hanging around the house, grilling and sitting on the patio with some friends. I'm making a big batch of my yummo-licious chili today and some cornbread for tomorrow--hubby's favorite! I also got the best recipe for cream of cauliflower soup out of one of my magazines and I cannot wait to try it! Me & the hubs are BIG soup fans--I love it, all year long! My faves are any cream based soups (lol), crab soup, french onion and tomato bisque. Soup is always in season at our house, lol! If the cream of cauliflower soup turns out well I'll share it here with you! Do you have some awesome soup recipes you'd like to share? Cuz' I would love to see them! If you leave me a recipe or email me a recipe I'll enter you in a drawing to win the NEW Southern Plate Cook Book by (yep) Christy of the Southern Plate blog! She's southern thru and thru and I love her--her blog is HERE! She's a real crack up and her recipes ROCK! Did I make you hungry now? Cuz' now I AM, LOL!

NewsBitz:

-Blog Candy on my post from yesterday, just scroll on down!! Go on and look--it's good stuff, LOL!

-Just to clear it up again, my friend Susana is the owner of SCACD store okay, lol! I'm the designer and owner of the Color Me Creative Classroom and part-owner of the magazine Through the Craftroom Door! I know it's confusing but I want her to get the due credit for having the store, cuz I will NEVER have a store, too much work, ha haa! :)

Well today is the day folks! The SCACD Family has a new addition and she is wonderful! The new artist is Carmen Medlin and she is a fabulous children's book illustrator and author! You can visit her website here--her paintings and art are both romantic and whimsical!

This stamp release is called Reflections and is EXCLUSIVE to the SCACD store!! To see all the stamps go to the SCACD store HERE---if you buy the full sheet you get some extra accessory stamps as well! If you are overseas you can order from the SCACD sister store Quixotic Paperie as they carry all the exclusive stamps there as well!

And today the SCACD DT is joined by the Quixotic Paperie DT and some special guest bloggers for a special BLOG HOP today! All these beautiful stamps will be showcased on each blog so you can be inspired with all kinds of creativity! And IF YOU LEAVE A COMMENT on each blog you will be entered to win 1 of 5 FUN COUPONS==3 of them will be SCACD Coupons worth 20% off one order from SCACD, 1 will be from Quixotic Paperie and 1 will be from SUINK--all 20% off coupons! The blogs will be picked at random and the 5 winners will be picked randomly from each of those blogs--they will be posted tomorrow at the store blog at 8 pm EST! You can find the entire blog hop list at the store blog HERE if you get lost!! I'm the start of the hop and the next blog is at the bottom of this post for ya!

I was lucky enough to use this gorgeous stamp called "First Signs of Fall" by Carmen for SCACD--isn't she a beauty! I created a vintage Christmas card with her BUT she'd be perfect for so many occasions--birthdays, fall, spring and winter! Those gorgeously yummy papers are by Memory Box called "Mistletoe" ( I love Memory Box papers)--great patterns in small prints which I love! I distressed all my paper edges with my Zutter Distress tool and inked the edges too. The center frame was made by using the SB's Nestability Labels 16 and tilting it--I also die cut an oval out of the center for the main image. After cutting the frame I ran it thru a CB Asian embossing folder for texture! I used my awesome Marianne Design scroll dies to give vines to the Petaloo Poinsettia flowers! The sentiment is from a new holiday PTI set.

She was colored with Copics including the background behind her (E09,E08,E11,G24,G21,G20,E29,E25,E31,E50). Then I stamped some flourishes with a PTI stamp around my image in soft browns to give the effect of winter winds blowing around her! Hard to see but she has stickles on her pocket and ruffle trim and diamond glaze on her boots.

Hope you enjoyed this Christmas card (I think I'm at 7 out of 25 to go), hee hee! Make sure to stop by the store to see the stamps HERE!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Howdy friends and a Happy Thursday to you all! WARNING--this is a long post of yaketty-yak from me and a long post of a holiday project! But if you make it to the end there could be a sweet treat for you in it!!! LOL!

For some reason lately I've had more emails from folks asking me how I got started in this crafty business and blog world, lol! I don't know if its a coincidence or if someone might be gathering info to write a book or a tell-all tale about me----ha ha ha, not much to tell!! Not that I mind sharing because most of it was just happen-chance KWIM? I had started scrapbooking over 14 years ago when my daughter was first born as a way to pass time while she was napping and to document her young life. Of course back then there weren't too many products available to us scrapbookers and Creating Keepsakes magazine was just starting out as well. But I persevered and created many pages that today I'm embarrassed to show because they LACK embellishment, lol! But they are important because they have so much info on those pages that I might have forgotten about. A few years after my son was born I was introduced to Stampin' Up by a friend and I was hooked (don't most of us get introduced to stamping by SU?). I loved all the stamps and matching inks and papers so much that I became a demo myself for a few years (more for myself than anything, lol). When we moved to our house here in VA I kinda fell into card making since I had moved on to digital scrapbooking. While I love to scrapbook I AGONIZED over each page, each memory and each picture so it could take me a week to do one page. Digital scrapbooking allowed me the ability to change things around and if I didn't like it, one click of my mouse and it was fixed--ta da! LOL!

So I discovered Paper Crafts magazine and thought it would suit my "instant gratification" self better and I was off. Someone gave me a Stamping Bella stamp and I was like "What the heck is that piece of rubber & what do I do with it?", lol! So I turned to my loyal friend called "GOOGLE" and found the website which led me to a blog (my first) which led me to another blog, which led me to another web store! And before you know it the UPS man was delivering packages to me EVERY DAY--Christmas at Suzanne's house, LMBO! And hubby wanted to know what the heck I was doing? But he never questioned me, has always been super supportive! A few months later I was in my chair and said to hubby "I think I'll start a blog!" and he was like "Ok--but why?" and I said "I have no idea, but I feel compelled to", lol! I figured it was a way for to document my journey, my crafts, and my life so I found Blogger and dutifully built my blog by trial and error, lol! A month after that I realized that some crafters were using Copics which I had used in college and I was "AHA"--I know them and I LOVE to color so I set out to buy me some of course! There is no enabler greater than myself TO myself, lmbo! That was trial and error as well but I had the knowledge and the know how to teach myself---there was NO info out there on Copics for crafters 3 years ago--NONE I tell ya! So I felt compelled again to help via my blog. So my blog became not only a journal for me but a way to help and teach others how to make, create and color with Copics and other paper crafts. It truly is a passion for me and I love it in so many different ways. And of course along the way I picked up DT opportunities, got published a few times, started teaching classes and make my way thru the large maze of shops, blogs and crafters. I've met lots of wonderful crafters and got to make a whole heck of a lot of friends along the way and for that I will always be grateful. But for those who think they might, or want to follow in my path I will be honest with you---it's hard work! When you take your hobby and turn it into work, it changes and you have to make sure you are comfortable with that change or you will start hating it! You also have to treat it as a job 24 hrs/a day and market yourself, participate in lots of challenges. improve your work each day and MOST OF ALL be honest, hardworking and loyal and kind---and you will create the job you love! And a top secret that I tell everyone---I FLY BY THE SEAT OF MY PANTS most days, lol! NO lie--I think of an idea and I just go with it no matter what but I'm not good at planning. If I did plan things out more I think I would talk myself out of it. That's how the Online Copic Classroom was born and the On the Road Classes--one minute it was a tiny see of a thought and the next day I was working on it, LOL! Sometimes you just GOTTA ROLL WITH IT KWIM!! And that is the shortened version of my crafting life!!!

-Winner of the "Peppermint Kisses" Blog Candy is VICKY of Sticky with Icky (luv that blog name, lol)!! Please email with your address information and email so I can get the gift certificates to you! Congrats and thanks to everyone--it was so enjoyable to read about your holiday traditions!

*******************************************************

Christmas Memories

So awhile back my friend Della who is the fabulous owner of I Brake For Stamps asked me if I'd be interested in creating a circle album! I'm always up for trying something new so I checked out the video and liked it enough to say YES! Della sells these Circle Album kits in her store HERE and they come with the whole kit and caboodle--so you get everything you need to make the actual album. **IF you decide you MUST have one or NEED one then use the coupon code "SAVE10SUZANNE" to get 10% off your entire order!!**

I decided to make my album into a Christmas Album that I could display during the holidays each year. We always have so many pictures and this is such a beautiful way to have them out on a table for everyone to view! I used the paper kit by My Minds Eye called "Holly Jolly" (I got mine from Emma's Paperie which is my absolute FAVORITE place to order my papers and paper kits from--super fast shipping and free gifts) which comes with all the papers and die cuts I used in my album---a great way to simplify your choices and create faster! After I add my pictures I will go in and use some of my holiday stamped images as well but I'm going to emboss them in gold to go with the holiday theme (make sure to check out the holiday stamps HERE at I Brake For Stamps, I adore those old Santas)!

The front page & back page have pull-out panels as well but I'm going to write up all our favorite memories after Christmas comes and goes and add that to the panels. The scrolls I used throughout are by Marianne Designs and I added some buttons and holly cut outs as well---the holly punch is a jumbo punch by Martha Stewart that I am in LOVE with--love it I tell ya, LOL! I added some fun rhinestone bling courtesy of ZVA and I pulled my decorations right over onto the pull-out panels--this creates more symmetry and cohesion. Just make sure you cut them apart or add in pieces so when the side panel is pulled out it doesn't yank it off the whole book KWIM!

(the slide out panel paper looks white but it's actually cream with music written on it--dumb camera,lol)

The cool thing about this Circle Album is that it has side panels that pull out creating space for all those extra pictures or memories you want to write about! I haven't added pictures to my album yet as I want to use this year's holiday pics in it but that will be the easy part!! Now don't get SCARED--this album is super easy to put together and my good friend Mary Giemza did one as well and created a pictorial tutorial that will help you HERE (and check out her beautiful version while you are there).

A few tips that you need to keep in mind though:1) Use a strong adhesive to hold your pages together--I used both the strong Scor-tape and my fave Scotch Quick Dry Glue (I use it on all my cards, love it and have used it for 3 years--a nice combo with the Scor tape)! 2) trace your shapes and cut out all your cardstock/papers first and then adhere them to the album pages FIRST including the pull out panels 3) Once you've added all your papers to the different parts THEN glue/adhere it all together--trust me this will save you time and headache later!

After I was done I took my Tsukineko Shimmer Spray in Sheer (love the super sparkle of this stuff, and no smell either) and sprayed each page including the front & back and all the panels so it has a beautiful, subtle sparkle to it. Holiday Magic is what I call it! I can already envision this album sitting on our coffee table in the living room just waiting for everyone to take a look!

But wouldn't it also be a FABULOUS gift for someone special? You can CREATE THIS IN A DAY--no lie cuz I did (well minus the ribbons and sparkle, lol)! Who wouldn't love to receive one of these for any occasion filled with pictures/memories or without so they can add their own? OR--you could buy the kit and give it to a crafty friend to make their own AND if you wanted to make it extra special you could include a paper kit as well! Lots & lots of ideas for this fun album and it is SUPER easy to create!

Hope you enjoyed my LONG post and just for making it to the end I'm going to give someone a treat!! If you leave a comment on my blog on this post only by Sunday telling me--

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Hello friends and yay it's the middle of the week! For those who celebrate Halloween, are you stocked up with candy yet? I'm not physically handing out candy this year, but I'll have my large witch's cauldron on my front porch filled to the brim. I have to decorate on Friday as well--hubby likes to help transform our yard into a spooky graveyard, bwahhahaaaha! Halloween evening though I'll be enjoying the warmth of the fireplace, some yummies and good times with some friends of ours! James will take Riley around the neighborhood with his friends for a bit--we have soooo many homes in our section of our neighborhood and the kids get wayyyy too much candy! Thankfully my kids don't indulge in candy too much and I either donate it to the troops overseas or end up pitching it in a few months. For those that donate their candy to the troops, if you have a link for that site can you email it to me as I don't have it bookmarked anymore since the laptop that the info was on crashed earlier this year! I sure would appreciate it! I will not be dressing up but Riley will be a soldier again this year, lol, not surprising! He loves anything military or history related and he only has one more year to trick-or-treat---I don't allow the kids to do it after 8th grade! I'm not sure what Alexa will be up to that evening but we're lucky enough to not have school on Monday or Tuesday which is nice!

-If you haven't entered for the super-YUMMY Blog Candy on the SCACD store blog to celebrate the NEW Artist coming on Friday to the store---go do it HERE!! There are sneak peeks of the stamps as well to see!

************************************************************

Grama's Birthdays!!

Today is the 7 Kids Challenge for 7 Kids College Fund and we were challenged to create a birthday themed project/card! Aren't birthdays so much fun (well maybe if you don't want to get older they're not, lol)? I like to go all out for my family's birthdays, since they only come once a year they need to be extra special I think. I am always thankful for each birthday I have as it means I was around for another year on this earth to make memories, have awesome experiences and enjoy my loved ones! I made this card above for my Grandma Seeley--she's always been my favorite grandparent and this coming summer she'll be 90 YEARS OLD! WOW! We are going to celebrate big time for her as that's such a huge milestone and I'm going to put this card away for her! The fun image is by Crafter's Companion S.W.A.L.K. stamp called "Grandma"!! See the whole entire (CUTIE PATOOTIE) collection of them HERE!

I love this cute "Grandma" image jumping rope--that's my grandma too, she's very young at heart and always has been. I'm teaching my Copic Classes in Buffalo & Canada in November and I'm lucky enough to be visiting with her while I'm there! The sentiment that comes with this set (and I put on the inside) says "Grama's are just antique little girls!"---dontcha' LOVE that expression, too cute! The papers are called "Lilac Avenue" by Fancy Pants--my grandma loves anything lavender colored! I added some Prima roses in lavender as well--the green branches were done with my Nellie Snellen"Floral Branch" punch! The round circle die-cut was made with a Marianne Designs die and the front sentiment is by PTI.

Here's that cute grandma and she was colored with Copics (V95,V93,V000/G21,G20/C3,C2,C1,C00). I added some stickles on top of her dress so this granny could have some BLING!! I also added diamond glaze to her glasses for some shine!

Hope you enjoyed this post today and if you are lucky enough to still have a grandma living--give her a HOLLER and tell her how much you love her!!

Make sure to stop by the 7 Kids Challenge Blog to see the rest of the DT's fabulous projects and how you can join in on the FUN!!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Happy Tuesday to you all! Do you all have a super busy week like me? LOL! It has been in the 70's here in VA and I am loving it so much--not loving the wind much though. Two of my pots on my patio blew off and broke yesterday so now I gotta go replace my pots, ugh! All of the pretty fall leaves are going to fall of the trees and I don't like the trees bare, lmbo--reminds of the upcoming winter season which I am not a fan of you know!! But I am starting to get in the holiday mood! I'm planning out Christmas tree #11 this year and some fun holiday activities for my family. We want to go to the National Harbor's Gaylord Hotel again and see the ICE! show--this year the theme is "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" which is one of my all-time fave Christmas movies! The ice-skating rink will be green and we'll also see the NEW Cirque du Soleil show "Ovo" while we're there--we're going to spend the night to make it a bit more special :) If you ever get the chance to go see the Gaylord's Ice! shows its a MUST SEE--very cold, but amazing how those ice artists carve all those beautiful sculptures! Now I've got to start my Christmas present list and start ordering them--I get 90% of my presents online! Saves me time, money and the horror of shopping lines and parking--blech! LOL!

PS--this week is crazy busy for me so if I don't respond to your email right away, please don't be offended as I will get to it asap!! I am knee deep in the next magazine issue and deadline projects and Halloween preparations, lol! I won't be answering the phone much either this week as I have to get my deadline work done by Friday--thanks for understanding!

NewsBitz:

-Some new locations/dates coming to the CMC on the Road Copic Classes! In January I am planning some classes in Nashville, TN and Los Angeles, CA (before CHA)! The sign-ups will be up soon on the website www.cmcroad.com! Stay tuned!

-Make sure to stop by the NEW website for I Brake For Stamps! There are some awesome new stamps to be found on the site including Auntie Amy stamps! Check them all out HERE and if you find some in your shopping cart (lol) then use the coupon code "SAVE10SUZANNE" to get 10% off your entire order!

*******************************************************

Lil' Senorita!!

I absolutely adore this lil' senorita image from Magnolia-licious! The actual name of the stamp is "Spanish Tilda" and she's such a cutie me thinks! When I was younger my uncle went to Spain quite a bit and he brought back real Flamenco dresses and I used to play dress up in them with my friends all the time. We pretended we were those fancy Spanish dancers and had a ball! Dark reds and blacks always remind me so much of the Spanish culture and some red roses of course too so I used papers by My Mind's Eye (Lush)!

Isn't she just a doll? "Spanish Tilda" is from the Bon Voyage Collection at Magnolia-licious--you can see them all HERE (I love the around-the-world Tildas)!! I didn't add a sentiment to this one so it could be used for many different occasions. The scrolls are from my fave Marianne Designs dies and then I layered Prima flowers around my image. I used the scrolls prominently because they reminded me of the black lace you see in Spanish culture on fans, veils and dresses. The black and cream brocade paper (by My Minds Eye) is actually flocked so it has a nice velvety texture to it!

She's colored with Copics (R29,R24,R22,R20/C9,C7,C5,C3,C2,C1/E13,E11,E00) and I darkened up her skin a bit more than usual as Spaniards tend to have beautifully olive-tanned skin! To deepen the red tone I used W5 over the R29 copic. Her shoes got some diamond glaze on it and there are stickles on her fan and ruffles on her dress. After shading the ruffles on her dress I added some white spots with my white Sharpie marker.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Happy Monday (or late Sunday evening, lol) everyone! How are you all and I hope you had a wonderful weekend!! We had a fabulous weekend but I'm utterly exhausted from it all, lol! On Thursday I taught a Copics Class to a few ladies in my home and then on Friday my mom came and visited for the weekend. So between the running Alexa around to beauty appointments and getting things done at the house it was a CRAZY house, lol! Below I have a little slideshow for you of pictures showing Alexa in her beautiful dress and some of her CREW (large group of friends that went to the dance together). Before the dance we all met up at our neighborhood's waterfall to take pictures and the weather was just beautiful! Then the large group of kids and parents went to our local Clydes (my fave restaurant housed in restored barns from Vermont)--the kids ate at a large table and we all scattered thru-out the restaurant (lucky Alexa had us sitting in the same room with her, lmbo). But the kids were all good and polite and it was a nice start to the evening. Then the kids got hauled over to the high school for the dance. Hubby, me, my mom and Riley all headed home and sat in front of our outdoor fireplace for a bit before it was time to prepare the snacks & goodies for the afterparty at our house. They all showed up (boys & gals) at around 11:20 and stayed until 1:30 am---they talked, laughed, ate and listened to music outside on the patio in front of the fireplace. Then James and I had to clean up, get the girls beds made up downstairs in our finished basement as 5 of the girls spent the night! I fell into bed around 3:30 am still exhausted, lol! But all in all a great weekend for Alexa & her friends! See pics below!

SLIDESHOW (pics can only be viewed on the website for those that receive it by email):

NewsBitz:

-SCACD still has some yummy Blog Candy HERE up for grabs until Thursday night! The NEW ARTIST release blog hop will be Friday--very exciting!

-I'm having a Copic Class in Buffalo in November---check the website www.cmcroad.com for dates and locations!

-I'll have the winner of the last blog candy up this week for ya!

I'll have some projects up tomorrow and through the week for you! I'm also finishing up the Nov/Dec magazine Through the Craftroom Door with my partner this week so it's a bit crazy, lol! What else is new right!?

Friday, October 22, 2010

Happy, happy Friday to you all! Dontcha' just love the weekends? And this weekend the weather is supposed to be bee-u-tiful here in VA and I'm so happy about that! We've got lots of stuff going on this weekend since its Homecoming weekend for my daughter---nail/hair appts, parties, football games, kids here at the house, lol--it all makes my head spin I tell ya! And I'm hoping to go to the Pumpkin Patch on Sunday with the family too--love to have warm weather when I go to the patch, always unpredictable! My mom will be up this weekend too :) I hope you enjoy the fall weekend with your family as well!

-Also SCACD has a NEW surprise artist coming next week along with a new stamp line--they are GORGEOUS!! To get you thru until the release there is a FABULOUS BLOG CANDY on the store blog HERE that you MUST ENTER starting Saturday, lol! Don't miss out!

****************************************************

Enjoy your Holiday!!

Today I have another Christmas card for you! I send about 25-30 handmade cards out for the holiday so this is #5, lol, 20+ more to go, yikes! I love, love Lockhart Stamp Co images--they're always fun to color and a nice break from the "cutesy" stamps that I usually create with. This image is available at SCACD and its called "Christmas Candles & Presents"--see the whole new collection HERE! This card is also for this week's TRY IT OUT CHALLENGE and this week I challenged the team with a sketch--see the store blog for more fab DT projects with this sketch I created! I flipped the sketch for my card :)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Hi everyone & Happy Thursday! Sorry for my absence--this is a CRAZY week for me! Along with almost cutting my finger off (lol) I have been catching up on things that I had let go the past few months. Chief among them was to clean out my hubby's study and my craftroom. It took me over 6 hours to clean my craftroom, lol--see the before and after pictures below. YES I am brave enough to show you the before pics, lol--but its SCARY so beware!! It was 2-3 months of not cleaning or organizing and putting away stuff due to work demands and it was driving me NUTZ!! But I organized everything down to my unmounted rubber stamps by company, all my spellbinders, cuttlebug folders and papers! Phew---I feel so much better and I got rid of 19 boxes and 2 big bags of trash, lol! Now it is a joy to go and craft again--before it made me feel almost manic because I can't stand clutter of any kind! But its done now and I feel good, but I still need to reorganize all my Magnolia stamps, maybe I'll save that for the holidays since it's a BIG job!! Now next week I'm going to do my walk-in closet (its such a disaster I'm embarrassed, lol) and our hall closets.

This is also Homecoming Week for Alexa so she's had umpteen million events going on! Last night was the Powderpuff Football game (girls against women faculty) and tomorrow is the Varsity football game and then the group of them is going to IHOP afterwards (poor IHOP, lol). In between she has to get her nails done and then on Saturday she gets her hair done and pictures and then onto dinner with her friends before the Homecoming Dance. And then lucky me volunteered to have all 20 or so of them over after the dance for some food, smores and fun on the patio and then the girls are sleeping over--ACK!! Also my mom will be here and I'm teaching a Copic class to a few ladies here in my home today, LOL! Do you think I could add more in this week? And we're going to try and get to the pumpkin patch on Sunday if the weather cooperates--one of my fave fall activities :) So it's been crazy, will be crazy and then it will be Monday again, lmbo!

Craft Room Pics (before & after, lol)--if you want to the rest of my craftroom pics you can click on the "All About Me" page at top of blog under banner to see those! (if you get my blog by email you can access the pics at the website)

NewsBitz:

-Winner of the "Winter Bunny Hugz" Blog Candy isAlanna of Alanna's Spot in the World!! Congrats and thanks to everyone for entering--I loved reading about your favorite winter activities. WELL you know I HATE the cold, so my fave is setting up my 10 Christmas trees and decorating the house for the holidays, drinking hot cocoa and spending time INSIDE reading my KINDLE and crafting, hee hee!

-7 Kids College Fund has the NEW Whiff of Joy stamps up for pre-order HERE! They are really cute and that baby seal must COME HOME to me, lol!

*******************************************************

Naughty or Nice??

Well sometimes you just GOTTA HAVE FUN you know what I mean!!? And as soon as I saw this image it made me smile and laugh so I had to have it!! It's by Kenny K Downloads and he has some awesome digi images to use. This one is called "Mistletoe" and I think she's fab! Some of them are a bit NAUGHTY (much naughtier than this one, lol) which are cute but I don't really have anyone to send a card to with those images, hee hee and I have a teenage boy in the house KWIM. So this one was a good mix of naughty & nice and it will be my hubby's Christmas card from me this year (wink)! But he has lots of other cute images as well to use that are "clean" so don't be scared to check them out--the sports ones are fabulous and they are so much FUN TO COLOR!!

I had lots of fun making this--it really was a joy to do! I also got to use all my new holiday goodies, lol! The papers are new from Kaisercraft "Be Merry" paper pad and those fab holly accents were made with the NEW Martha Stewart holiday jumbo punches! I love them and I accented the holly by inking the edges and adding red Dew Drops for the berries. That sentiment is from a VERY NAUGHTY set from MFT (My Favorite Things) stamps called "Twisted Sentiments" **don't click if you cannot handle it, lol** I got it a long time ago but never used it, lol! But the "Naughty" was perfect for this card and I added a question mark with my green Copic Spica pen! The bow was made with a Bow Easy and accented with a dew drop. The image was cut out with the SB's Nestie Die "Labels 11"--I like this shape, it's a nice alternative to ovals.

My image was colored with Copics and then I added some of my fave products to the image to make it extra special! On all her fur trims I used Doodlebug White Flock (on sale right now 20% off) and for her pom-poms I used real small white pom-poms from the craft store--makes it FUN! The gold accents have stickles on them and I used some diamond glaze on her eyes to make them shiny. I also traced her fishnet stockings with my black Spica pen to make them glittery :)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Happy Monday everyone! Did you all have an enjoyable weekend? Our weekend was not too bad thank goodness! On Friday Alexa has some of her friends sleep over and then we took her and a friend to Tyson's Corner Mall to get a homecoming dress! SCORE! Second store and she found the perfect dress that is beautiful--bright blue and silver and really cute! I had 2 pairs of silver high heels (one pair I've never worn) so she didn't need shoes and we found some cute jewelry to go with it. So a painless journey in the teen girl shopping area, lol! Sunday we just hung around the house, grilled out and watched the Redkins game on our new TV on the patio beside my favorite fireplace to keep me warm (as I'm typing this with crossed fingers hoping they win, hee hee). I also managed to almost cut off my pointer finger on my left hand with a large serrated knife--YEOOOOW--still figuring out if I should get stitches or not but it hurts terrible especially typing. This is why I stay far, far away from knives--they like to attack me, hee hee! But I can handle pain pretty well so I finished making dinner and am now typing up my blog but it hurts pretty bad, we'll see I guess :)

Do you like to cook? Okay, well do you at least like to read about others cooking, lol? Since today's Magnolia-licious Blog Hop is themed "We're Cookin'" I thought I'd tell you about my favorite Cookin' Ladies as well! Two of my FAVORITE non-craft blogs I keep up with and read regularly are The Southern Plate and Pioneer Woman! I discovered Pioneer Woman (Ree) early last year and she just CRACKS me up, really makes me laugh out loud I tell ya. She says ALL those things we try to keep secret or would never tell anyone KWIM--she did a story when she was in DC that involved her Spanx and a port-a-potty that made me fall out of my chair! I love a funny blog--always a good read and she has fabulous yummy recipes and her photography is OUT OF THIS WORLD fabulous, makes me ALMOST wanna be a cowgirl, lol. If you ever get time make sure and read her love story and how she got to the pioneer at her blog, its called "Black Heels & Tractor Wheels" and it is a great read! And The Southern Plate lady, Christy, is almost as much of a crack up and she types just like she probably talks with all her Southern twang and euphenisms--LOL funny I tell ya! And her recipes are yummy and easy to make--great for those short on time and supplies (like me always, hee hee)! If you ever need a laugh, an uplifting story or a yummy recipe these are the ladies to visit!

*****************************************************

PeppermintKisses!!

Today the Magnolia-licious DT is having a fun Blog Hop for you today and the theme is "We're Cookin'"! You can find out all the details on the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog as well as instructions on how to play along to win big!! I'm the last stop on the hop today so if you are starting with me make sure and start at the beginning with JANIEL HERE! There are sure to be some fun, yummy and fabulous projects along the hop! And if you read thru-out my post today you might find something yummy as well, hee hee!

I decided to make a Christmas Peppermint Kisses Gift that could be easily replicated and this would make a fabulous gift for a neighbor, teacher, hostess or friend in your life. It's a Peppermint Themed Cup of Kisses :) A large paper teacup that holds goodies for making some yummy peppermint hot chocolate AND a matching recipe book filled with yummy peppermint recipes!

As soon as I saw this new template release from Lauren Meader's My Time Made Easy I knew what I was going to do with it and was so excited to use it, I just love it! This template is called "Grab a Cup" and it is super easy to make (and only $5) which I love and if you have a Cricut (or other electric cutting machine) you can get the svg file and it can be made even quicker. I prefer to cut (yes, I like to cut paper not myself--I find it meditative, its quirky I know) and it took me no time at all to do. And use Scor-Tape to hold it all together--I kid you not that stuff is fabulous and super strong (I have projects from 2 years ago with Scor-tape that are still together perfectly today). My papers are new from My Mind's Eye called "I Believe" and I love the reds and aquas together and the peppermint striped paper too! I stuffed the cup with packages of hot chocolate, marshmallows and some peppermint candies that can be crushed into your hot chocolate or in the yummy recipes in the recipe book. TIP: I added some shredded papers to the cup in white & red--make your own with leftover tissue paper or cardstock and run it thru your shredder! Cheap & Easy!

I used one of my all-time favorite Tilda's from Magnolia-licious called "Waiting Tilda"--I love how she's dressed and the serene look of her face--too cute for wintertime projects (I've colored her legs as tights before too if she seems chilly, hee hee)! Make sure to stock up on all the cute holiday/winter Magnolia's now so you can get them in time for all your lovely projects!! And Diana will have the NEW Christmas stamps up for pre-order this week at Magnolia-licious as well--don't miss out on that!

Here's that cute "Waiting Tilda" again and I perched her on this fabulous Alota Candy Cane(in stock now) that Diana so generously sent all the DT gals! It's perfect for holiday projects and for putting your Edwins & Tildas on too! They're colored with Copics and to make the reds a deeper red to match the papers I added W3 & W1 over the reds (you can overlay gray on top of most colors to deepen them). I kept my blending rough on the candy cane for a fun look and then coated it with diamond glaze so its super shiny (in real life) and the white areas got stickles for some bling right over the diamond glaze once it was dry. The edges of all my papers got inked with red ink using my fave Inkssentials Blending tool.

My recipe book was fun and easy to make! I used my SB's Nesties "Labels 1" (the largest size) to cut out bases in the aqua cs and the mats as well. The front uses another fun stamp from Magnolia-licious (A Little Yummy for Your Tummy Collection) called "Tea Cup" --its out of stock at Diana's store, but I know if you email her she will get some in for ya! The lil round sentiment tag is from PTI that was cut out with another SB nestie. I punched holes in each page and added a simple silver craft ring and decorated the ring with some ribbons.

On the inside are some fun & easy recipes each with peppermint in them that I found on Allrecipes.com. I typed them up in Word and resized them to fit on my white cs mats and printed them out on the cs--if you'd like this bunch of recipes to try out or to print for your own recipe book I've created a file for you HERE (they will print out and are sized to fit on the 2nd largest Nestie Labels 1). Now you can create your own fun recipe book. I added some fun stamps by PTI (small snowflakes & gingerbread man) around each title of the recipe for fun and inked the edges of my cs. I think this set makes such a fun gift set for someone special during the holidays and was done pretty inexpensively but looks like a million $$$ :) I know I will be creating a few of these for friends and teachers!

Now for some yummy treats for one of you!! How about a $20 gift certificate to Magnolia-licious and a $5 gift certificate to My Time Made Easy so you can create this or something else special for the holiday season if you'd like!! You just have to leave a comment telling me if you liked my project, lol, AND answer a fun question by Friday "What is your most cherished holiday tradition? (for any fall or winter holiday, any religion of course as well)".

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Happy Weekend Everyone! It is brrrrr cold here in VA and I'm NOT liking it one bit--blech! What happened to the 70 degrees---wahhhhh! I feel that winter chill in the air which means winter is soon to come--and you know I'm NOT a fan, lol! Today I'm off to the mall for the promised "homecoming dress" shopping trip I promised Alexa and she's bringing a friend. I hope she's able to find something quickly or we will progress into the pouting/whining stage "I can't find ANYTHING" or "it makes me look fat" (as if, lol)! Not to mention that my shopping patience only lasts so long, lol especially if my blood sugar is low and there isn't any Coke in site :) And then once the dress is found we have to get shoes and jewelry and then we can leave, lol! Ah to be a teenage girl again--NOT, I wouldn't go back if you paid me big $$$$, lmbo! Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

-Monday is the October Magnolia-licious Blog Hop!! The theme is "We're Cookin'" and all the details will be up on the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog on Monday morning starting at 4 am EST!

-The Holiday Special Edition ofThrough the Craftroom Doorhas been mailed and emailed out so you should be receiving it soon if you subscribe! (Don't Subscribe? See HERE) We need some fabulous entries for some projects/cards using the sketch below---get them in by Oct.22nd and send entries to craftdoor@yahoo.com --come on we want to see your awesome work!!

*****************************************************

Blurfin' Fun!!

Today I have a fun project for you that I had "created" in my mind a bit ago but never got around to making it! It's also for this week's "Try It Out Challenge" and it was to create a fall gift--well mine isn't fall themed but it does make a great gift :) Check out the store blog HERE to see more fun creations by the DT!! I'm using a fabulous image by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD called "You Have Mail"--this image reminds me so much of my daughter and her ever attached laptop, lol! (or if you ask my friends they say this is a younger version of me with my laptop & coke, hee hee)! I created a fun birthday card and laptop gift card holder which was fun! **And just so you know blurfin' is blog-hopping, not throwing up, hee hee ***

I kept the color scheme to royal blue, yellow and white and made it fun for a tween or teenager to receive. The yellow paper with small stars is from PTI, the other dp is from DCWV and then I embossed the blue cs with a NEW Cuttlebug Folder (large dots--isn't it cool)! The sentiment is from PTI as well and then rhinestones bling it up a bit!

Yep this cutie is colored with Copics and then I've added diamond glaze to the laptop screen and stickles to the Coke can and moons on her fun pajamas. Isn't she just a cutie? This "You Have Mail" image is perfect for tween/teen girls in your life!

To create the laptop gift card holder I basically created a smaller version of an easel card (if you want dimensions, email me and I will measure it up for you this weekend)! Need directions for the Easel Cards--I created a picture tutorial HERE if you'd like to have a looksy! I tried drawing out the keyboard on silver cs but it looked odd to me, lol so I got a free clipart image from Google and resized it and printed it out. The screen is silver cardstock with the corners rounded and then some cardstock and a fun sentiment from PTI--rhinestones finish it off. To create the back pocket for the gift card---I just lined the sides and bottom with scor-tape to make a pocket and then the whole thing folds flat so you can easily mail it.

Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you back here on Monday for the October Magnolia-licious Blog Hop--theme is "We're Cookin'"!!! You won't want to miss it!!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Hello everyone and Welcome to Friday! Thank goodness for the weekend right? I can't even explain how stressful this week has been and I won't elaborate right now because I like to keep a positive and happy mood here. Ask anyone who takes a class with me on the road and I repeat that mantra constantly and I do NOT BELIEVE in the word "can't or cannot" at all--BAD WORDS to me and not allowed in my class, lol! That's how I live my life each day because I believe living in the light of positivity--even if you don't want to, you CAN ALWAYS try KWIM! Never say never and live with you cup half full, not empty---we only get so many days so you really have got TO ENJOY each one!! I enjoyed watching those Chilean miners getting rescued so much--it was the most uplifting and joyful tv I had seen in awhile. And talk about HOPE--those guys had lots of hope and will to live these past 2 months and their story is really inspirational to me! I cried along with all their family members each time someone came up, it truly was moving to see and I wish them all the best in the future as I know the next year could be bumpy & difficult for them.

I hope you enjoy the weekend! The weather is supposed to be nice in VA this weekend and I'm spending bunches of time outside on my patio. I've got to take Alexa shopping for her homecoming dress on Saturday and tonight she is having friends over after the football game so lots going on as usual :)

Newsbitz:

-I will have another project up tomorrow for you so make sure to stop by! Also don't miss the blog candy in my post from yesterday :)

-Need to stock up on some Copics! My friend Terri of Stamps Alive! has a great deal right now--buy 10 sketch markers and get 3 FREE! So it works out to be about $3.90 a marker which is fabulous--just email her what you'd like!! Her customer service & shipping is top notch too (she's one of my CHA roomies that is able to put up with me and Marti together, lol)!

***********************************************************

Strawberry Fields

Today is the 15th so that means it is time for another fun challenge at the Copic Creations Challenge Blog! Our fabulous sponsor is Pink Cat Studio and I've always been a huge fan of Melissa and her stamps and was lucky enough to have been on the digi stamp DT for awhile! Her images are always so lighthearted and fun and super-fun to color! The challenge this time is Colorless Blender Techniques--there are so many fun ways to use the Colorless Blender so make sure to stop by the blog to see them in action!

For my card I chose to use the digi stamp "Strawberry Lily"--isn't she a cutie? I love her strawberry dress and pig-tails! For my technique I actually used the Colorless Blender as a blender pen--this is a tricky technique because you need to realize that the blender removes color and does not blend. But you can pick up color from another marker with the blender pen to create very light pastel colors. Copics are naturally very vibrant and you can create very light colors by doing this technique & it's fun!

My papers are from DCWV's "Sweet" Collection paper pad--I love the hot pinks and lime greens, perfect for a strawberry color theme! The die behind my image is a new one from Spellbinders called "Lacey Circles"--I'm really loving all the new nesties right now (see them all here & scroll way down)! The swirls are made with my fave Marianne Designs Dies and then some fun rhinestone bling and button with ribbon as well!

Lily got some more bling on her dress trim and headband with some Stickles and then I added diamond glaze to her lollipop! Of course I colored with Copics-- R83,R81,YG03,G20,E35,E31,YR20 and my Colorless Blender pen!